1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic opening and closing device for automatically operating an opening and closing member like a trunk lid of a vehicle or the like.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-290211, filed Oct. 1, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of trunk lids of vehicles, there are known types in which the trunk lid is automatically opened and closed via a drive device. For example, there is a type in which, along with the main portion of an actuator, which is a drive device, being supported upon the vehicle body, the end of the actuator is supported upon a hinge member of the trunk lid, which is supported upon the vehicle body so as to be able to be opened and closed, with the trunk lid being opened and closed, via the hinge, by the actuator elongating and shortening (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-12145).
However, with the above described prior art type automatic opening and closing device, there is the problem in that a certain amount of drive force is required for varying the position of the actuator itself because when the trunk lid is being automatically opened and closed, the actuator varies its attitude along with this opening and closing operation for the trunk lid.
Furthermore, since the actuator moves along with a movable portion such as the hinge or the like and changes its attitude, there may be a loss of operational reliability of the actuator, if there is a possibility in that this change of attitude may exert an influence upon the operation of the actuator.